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Software engineer: what the job actually is

Designing and building the software behind apps and games, in a field where Job Bank says Ontario jobs are limited for now.

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Software engineer: quick facts

Software engineer salary in Ontario: the median pay is $48.08 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is limited. The job usually needs a university degree.

Median pay in Ontario
$48.08 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$30.29 to $77.40 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Limited
People working in it in Ontario
88,700
Usually needs
Usually a university degree

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 21232. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Designing, building and maintaining software: mobile apps, web services, games, business systems. You work out what a program should do, write it, and keep it working as the needs change.
  • Job Bank's group here is Software developers and programmers, and its Ontario requirements page uses computer game developer as the example title. The pay and outlook are for the whole group.
  • The existing software developer page on this site is filed under a different Job Bank group, software engineers and designers. The jobs overlap heavily and the title on the door often says little about what you do. The computer programmer page is a third neighbour.
  • Job Bank reports a Limited Ontario outlook for this group, and its own text says employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions. It also says the pace of job growth may be affected by recent restructuring in the technology sector. Read that before you plan a life around it.
  • Much of the work is teamwork: planning with other developers, reading each other's code, agreeing what to build next, and explaining decisions to people who do not code.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 9:00 — Read what changed overnight. Someone merged a change that broke the build, and your name is on the group chat.
  2. 9:15 — Short team meeting. Everyone says what they are on. Somebody says they are blocked and somebody else quietly helps.
  3. 9:45 — Back to your feature. The designer's drawing and the data the system actually has do not match, so you go and ask.
  4. 11:00 — Write code. Two hours of it, in which most of the time is spent deciding what to name things and what to leave out.
  5. 13:00 — Lunch, and a conversation about whether the new tool the company wants to adopt is worth the pain.
  6. 13:45 — Review a colleague's change. You find a case they did not think of and say so politely.
  7. 15:00 — Your own change gets reviewed. You defend one choice and give in on another.
  8. 16:00 — Tests fail on one machine and not another. You spend an hour proving it is the machine.
  9. 17:00 — Write down what you did and what is left, so tomorrow-you does not start from nothing.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You like building something from nothing that other people actually open and use.
  • You would rather work in a team than alone, because most of the work is shared.
  • You are curious about how apps and games are put together underneath.
  • You can cope with uncertainty about the job market and keep your skills broad.
  • You like being able to start the hobby version at home for free.
You may hate this if
  • You need a promise of steady demand. Job Bank reports a Limited Ontario outlook for this group.
  • You want the work to end. Software is released, then kept going, then changed, for years.
  • You dislike meetings, because a team job in software has more of them than people expect.
  • You dislike being told your design has a flaw by someone who has just read it.
  • You want the title engineer to mean the same thing it does in civil or mechanical engineering. It often does not here, and the next section explains why.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Computer science or software engineering, university or college

    Job Bank's Ontario page says a bachelor's degree in computer science or software engineering is usually required, or completion of a college programme in computer science or a related field. Both kinds of programme are searchable by field on ontariocolleges.ca and in the Ontario universities' program lists.

  2. No P.Eng needed for this job, according to Job Bank

    Job Bank says this occupation is not regulated in Canada and does not require Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) registration. Engineers Canada describes the general steps to an engineering licence as an accredited engineering degree, work experience, a professional practice exam, good character and language ability. Engineers Canada's page did not say whether software engineers must hold one, and Professional Engineers Ontario's own pages could not be read this session, so check PEO directly if the licence matters to you.

  3. Experience moves you up

    Job Bank's page notes that progression to software engineer is possible with experience, which means many people start with narrower titles and move into the job as they build a record.

  4. Co-op and finished projects

    Co-op placements in an Ontario programme and a small number of complete, working projects are the clearest evidence you can offer before you have a job title.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Requirements for software developers and programmers in Ontario · Job Bank — Ontario wage report for software developers and programmers · Engineers Canada — Overview of the licensing process

The money

Software engineer salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$30.29
Low (hourly)
$48.08
Median (hourly)
$77.40
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 21232. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.

Source: Job Bank — Software engineer wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Limited2 out of 5 stars

  • Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions.
  • Not many positions will become available due to retirements.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

What is changing in this work

  • The extensive use of advanced digital tools across all industries
  • However, the pace of job growth may be affected by recent restructuring in the technology sector

Who hires for it

  • Various industries, with the leading share employed in computer systems design and related services
  • Information and cultural industries, particularly software publishers
  • Finance and insurance companies, mainly banks
88,700
people work in this job in Ontario
21%
are women (48% across all jobs)
11%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Software developers and programmers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 21232). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Take the highest maths and computer science courses your school offers. Degree programmes ask for them and dropping them early closes doors.
  • Make a small game or app that works end to end, and show it to somebody who is not a friend.
  • Ask whether your school or board runs a co-op placement and whether a software or IT employer takes students.
  • Read a few job ads from Ontario companies and notice which skills appear over and over, so your hobby learning points at them.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Build a tiny working game or tool in one sitting

About 120 minutes
  1. Pick a free beginner tool that runs in a web browser and lets you write simple code, such as a free block-based or beginner coding site.
  2. Decide on one very small thing: a number-guessing game, a quiz, a dice roller. Write down in one line what it should do.
  3. Build it, get stuck at least once, and look up the answer rather than quitting. Note how long the stuck part lasted.
  4. Show it to one person and watch them use it without helping. Write down what confused them.

What it tells you. If you liked the moment it first worked, and watching someone else use it made you want to improve it, this field fits how you work, and a computer science programme is a reasonable next step to look up. If the stuck part felt miserable and watching a stranger struggle felt pointless, that is useful too: given Job Bank's Limited Ontario outlook here, there are many other technology paths worth trying before you commit.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “How did you get your first job in software, and what did you build before that?”
  2. “Does your employer care about the title engineer, or about a P.Eng.?”
  3. “How much of your day is coding and how much is meetings and review?”
  4. “How has the hiring situation changed since you started?”
  5. “What would you learn first if you were seventeen again?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Yes. Nobody licenses developers, so you can freelance, build a product or start a small studio with no permission. Job Bank counts a share of this group as self-employed. Be honest about the money: a product that nobody pays for earns nothing, and clients take time to find.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a software engineer make in Ontario?

The median pay for a software engineer in Ontario is $48.08 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $30.29 to $77.40 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a software engineer in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as limited for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions. Not many positions will become available due to retirements. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become a software engineer in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a university degree. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Computer science or software engineering, university or college; No P.Eng needed for this job, according to Job Bank; Experience moves you up.

Where does a software engineer work in Ontario?

Various industries, with the leading share employed in computer systems design and related services. Information and cultural industries, particularly software publishers. Finance and insurance companies, mainly banks. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as a software engineer in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 88,700 people working in this job in Ontario. 21% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Where people come from

Which programs lead here?

In the 2021 Census, this job is one of the 12 most common for graduates of these programs. Each page shows what else they do, and which of those jobs have openings.

Tech and engineering jobs: who is hiring What can you do with your degree?

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

Start from yourself, not from the job.

Future Finder is free, takes about ten minutes, needs no account and stores nothing. It will tell you which kinds of work you lean toward, and which of these pages are worth your time.

Try Future Finder — freeAll jobs

Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.

If this appeals, look at these too

software developer computer programmer web developer software tester computer engineer business owner

Read next

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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.